By Heather Lawton

Bill Murray Quote  “I went to Second City, where you learned to make the other actor look good so you looked good and National Lampoon, where you had to create everything out of nothing, and SNL, where you couldn't make any mistakes, and you learned what collaboration was.” - Bill Murray

Mandate  Overall Idea:  Improv and Sketch Comedy at its Best - The Second City operates resident live theatres that create original comedy revues in Chicago, Toronto, Las Vegas and Detroit. We operate a studio space at our Training Center facility in Los Angeles and our Touring Companies perform at venues all over the world.  Communications office: - “We do two things our clients can't do: use perspective to their business, and use improvisation to improve communication, collaboration and innovation.

Mandate - Julianne Snepsts  The second city is a commercial theatre company that creates original sketch comedy shows through a process of ensemble improvisation.  This process, and the vast archive of material that it has created, allows the second city to offer a variety of entertainment services to many, diverse markets.

Size/Location  Second City Toronto is located at 51 Mercer St. at Blue Jays Way  Contrary to other theaters in Canada, Second City does own it’s own space

Budgeting  Second City is a company that works for a profit and therefore there are no records of financial transactions located on the website  The Second City theatre operates on a budget based on approximately $2 million in ticket sales/year.  Second City is very successful though and enjoys the benefits of numerous different venues like: - Live theatre - Communications - SCTV + DVD sales - Merchandise

Touring Company  Canadian Touring Company  “The Second City Canadian Touring Company performs The Best of The Second City, a hilarious revue featuring some of the best scenes and songs from our almost 50 years of comedy. Plus, the show features our trademark improvisation and new scenes created just for this tour.”

History!  December 16, The first Second City is opened in Chicago  April 1963 – The company makes its first annual trip to Toronto’s Royal Alexandria Theatre  June 1973 – Second City Toronto opens on Adelaide Street in the Old Firehall  August 1974 – "The Canadian Show or Upper USA," the 48th revue, opens with Toronto players Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, John Candy and Eugene Levy  October 1976 – The Second City Toronto debuts Second City TV throughout Canada.  August 1988 – The Second City Toronto celebrates its 15th on CBC and Showtime  November 1997 – Second City Toronto moves from the Old Firehall to a new state of the art facility at 56 Blue Jays Way  June 1998 – Second City Toronto celebrates its 25th anniversary  October 2005 – The Second City Toronto moves to a brand new theatre space on Mercer Street.

Andrew Alexander and SCTV  In 1974, Andrew Alexander developed and took control of Second City Toronto  He formed a partnership with Len Stuart in 1976 and started The Second City Entertainment Company  They produced the television company SCTV  Alexander co-developed and executive produced over 185 half- hour shows for the award-winning comedy series, and produced over 150 hours of award-winning television comedy  SCTV is Second City’s Canadian television program which was very popular on CBC and Showtime through the 80’s and 90’s featuring the Canadian Second City actors

Alumni Some famous names from Second City Toronto:  1973 Dan Aykroyd  1974 John Candy Eugene Levy  1986 Mike Myers  1987 Ryan Stiles

Improvisation Second City specializes in a type of drama called improvisation. Here is a clip of an improvisation game called “Three-Way Dubbing” taking place at one of Second City Toronto’s workshops.

Season Offerings!  Barack to the Future - “ Barack to the Future is an unstoppable, high-energy boost – poking fun at pop culture, politics, relationships and anything that dares take itself too seriously. Arrogant politicians, culture snobs and even the raccoons in your garbage make an appearance on stage through the hilarious character work of this extremely talented cast. Returning to the stage for Barack to the Future are Marty Adams, Darryl Hinds, Karen Parker and Leslie Seiler, joined by gifted Toronto comedy veteran Kerry Griffin and audience favourite Reid Janisse.” “With a worldwide recession, global climate change and a daily litany of political disasters, Toronto could use a good laugh. How better to embrace hope, change and optimism than by looking Barack to the Future? On August 7th, 2008 at 8:00pm, The Second City Toronto will debut its 62nd mainstage revue, directed by Second City veteran Bruce Pirrie – fresh from a smash hit at The Second City Las Vegas, and recent Toronto hit Facebook of Revelations.”

Other Shows…  BYE BYE W!! - A "politically incorrect" night of stand-up comedy, featuring Jamie Kilstein (comedian from New York) - Hosted by Canadian comedy legend Kenny Robinson - Friday, January 16th, 11pm  Facebook of Revelations - Touring throughout most Ontario towns after a huge success at the Second City Las Vegas and more recently, the Toronto Second City  Go Ahead, Make My Monday - On Monday nights, The Second City performs Go Ahead, Make My Monday, a revue of the best scenes and songs from the theatre’s history. You’ll see scenes originally written and performed by famous alumni, then catch an extended improv set performed by the best improvisers in the city. - Every Monday at 8:00pm

Julianne Snepsts  How would you describe your job position?  As the associate producer, I am responsible for most producing functions for the main stage theatre (our resident stage in Toronto), our touring operations (the "touring company" and special touring projects), as well as special projects (i.e. Our 35th anniversary celebrations in March 09). My job involves talent management, client relations, publicity/promotion of the theatre, scheduling, administration and project management. I report to the executive director of the Second City Toronto.  How long have you been working at Second City Toronto?  2.5 years

Highlights/Challenges  What has been a highlight?  Last may, i had the enormous pleasure of being one of the producers on the SCTV reunion benefit show, and through that experience, i was able to work with the most amazing comedy legends: Catherine O‘Hara, Andrea Martin, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, and Joe Flaherty. They reunited to perform sketches from their time together on the second city stage, and bring out old characters that were made famous on SCTV. It was really special because they came up with this idea to raise funds for people in the second city family who were facing challenges in their lives - whether health or financial - it was a very generous act on their part, and an unforgettable, historical evening for everyone in the theatre.  What has been your biggest challenge?  The second city is - like almost every other theatre in Toronto - facing the challenge of finding and sustaining a younger audience. You'd think that the work we do would be immediately attractive to younger people - it's funny, you can eat and drink, it's relevant to things that are happening today - when young people come to the second city, they love it. But our theatre has been sustained by an older demographic who grew up with SCTV. They won't be around forever, so a major challenge for us right now is to re-envision our brand in younger terms, re- position ourselves so that we are the first choice for live entertainment for university students and young professionals. This challenge is being met not only by our marketing department, but also by our actors, teachers, etc. It's a company-wide priority.

Look to the Future…  Are there any goals for the future?  We want to grow smartly and strategically to create more opportunities for our talent - in television, film, online content, touring. We have a new revue opening in march which we hope will include some really satirical, relevant scenes - bring us back to our satirical roots. We also need to weather the current economic storm - while a lot of our activities will be affected by businesses and households tightening their belts, we believe that people will always need a laugh, they need social activities, and they need to escape the challenges of the recession.